Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children, #1) in Into the Forest

Feb 10, 2018 mark monday rated it did not like it

Shelves: murdertime, teenworld, fantasy-modern

the novel has at its center a fascinating idea, one gleaming with potential: a school full of children cast out of their various Narnias, longing to go back (oh and there's a serial killer on the prowl). too bad that potential was squandered on a predictable and often inept narrative, gruelingly repetitious dialogue and ham-handed exposition, and characters who are trying awfully hard to entertain with their snarky dialogue while fitting themselves into the most au courant of demographics. I fee the novel has at its center a fascinating idea, one gleaming with potential: a school full of children cast out of their various Narnias, longing to go back (oh and there's a serial killer on the prowl). too bad that potential was squandered on a predictable and often inept narrative, gruelingly repetitious dialogue and ham-handed exposition, and characters who are trying awfully hard to entertain with their snarky dialogue while fitting themselves into the most au courant of demographics. I feel like I should be awarding points to the book for including both an asexual character and a trans character, not to mention a Manic Pixie Asian character, but. I. just. can't. I love diversity and that of course includes individuals (like me) who identify as something outside of the straight white norm, and frequently resent that norm... but these characters didn't resonate and actually felt more like boxes being checked than actual people. it's bizarre how overrated this book is.

note #1: people don't start nonchalantly boxing up a friend's possessions a scant couple hours after finding that friend's dismembered corpse and a small school would probably not just be moving on and getting back to classes in less than a day because, you know, GRIEF IS A THING.

note #2: having a second victim be alive while her eyes were pulled out of their sockets seems, I dunno, rather ridiculously sadistic maybe? I mean I get that the author didn't like this character and so for some reason had to punish her, but isn't that a bit fucking unnecessary for a young adult novel?

note #3: identifying a character as "Latino" and having their Narnia be some fantasy Day of the Dead Land only makes the author seem like a well-intentioned but basically clueless white liberal, checking off some demographic box, while not understanding that noting someone as "Latino" could mean they look like any shade of white, brown, or black... and it is certainly no equivalent to the generous physical descriptions given to every other character.

note #4: it doesn't help a story when the already glaringly obvious idea that is driving that story is stated explicitly and repeatedly because uh yeah, I actually do understand that these diverse fantasy lands are an analogy to the diverse and very personalized worlds that children and teens live in, because that's already pretty damn transparent. C.S. Lewis gets railed on because his Narnia adventures are such an obvious Christian allegory, but I don't recall any moment when a character from one of his books decides to say something along the lines of "hey everyone, did you realize that we are all living in some sort of Christan allegory OMG!"

note #5: strangely enough, I think this could have been much improved if it was twice its current length. at the very least there would have been room for the characters to deepen and grow and for the story to not feel like such a rush job (and checklist). Every Heart a Doorway is full of interesting ideas but those ideas are all delivered with an excruciating shallowness.

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Oct 15, 2018 Michele rated it liked it

Shelves: folklore-myth-magic, boarding-school

Good but a bit...thin. A fantastic and intriguing premise, but I wanted more depth in everything - character, plot, etc. I see there are sequels, so will have to try them.

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Mar 29, 2019 Bri rated it it was amazing

Amazing novella. Can't stop thinking about it, and already have the next 2 waiting. As a fairy tale fan, this was a brilliant read for me. ...more

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Apr 07, 2024 Jaimie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: signed, favorites

I need to read every one of these books. What happens to the kids that come back from their Wonderland, their Narnia? Are they changed? Can they just go back to their normal lives after that? I didn’t expect a dark plot going into this but I was pleasantly surprised to find it. I didn’t see the end coming either. This was so good!

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